This invention relates to a variable volume type refrigerator in which the volume of the freezing chamber and the cooling chamber are variable for efficient utilization of the foodstuff's interior storage space.
FIG. 1 illustrates the sectional configuration of a conventional refrigerator. The refrigerator has an outer cabinet 1 for providing the foodstuff's storage space and a door 2 which is mounted in the front of the cabinet 1 to open and close the foodstuff's storage space.
The foodstuff's storage space is divided into a freezing chamber 4 and a cooling chamber 5 by the use of an intermediate partition wall 3. An evaporator 7 and a fan 8 which are used for maintaining stored foodstuffs at a low temperature are arranged under the freezing chamber 4, while a compressor 9 is arranged at the lower part of the cabinet 1.
In such a refrigerator, the relative volumes of the freezing chamber 4 and the cooling chamber 5 are fixed at a predetermined rate due to the intermediate partition wall 3 that is fixedly attached to the interior of the cabinet 1. Therefore, since the freezing chamber 4 and the cooling chamber 5 must be used within a predetermined volume, irrespective of amount and sizes of foodstuffs to be stored, the conventional refrigerator causes a difficult problem in the case that many foodstuffs should be unexpectedly stored in the freezing chamber 4 or the cooling chamber 5, and in the case that a foodstuff of relatively large size should be stored therein.
The object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator which is able to vary the volumes of the freezing chamber and the cooling chamber for efficient use of the foodstuff's storage space.